Prince Andrew, the Duke of York and his daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Princess Eugenie yesterday attended the annual Not forgotten Association (NFA), Garden Party held at Buckingham Palace. Her Majesty made her son host, allowing her to slightly scale back on her royal duties.

In 1919, American-born, European-educated soprano, Marta Cunningham visited a local Ministry of Pensions Hospital. She was horrified to learn that hospital had 600 wounded veterans in its care. Ms Cunningham soon learned that throughout England, there were thousands of injured service men in hospital.

She convinced her friends to invite these men out for afternoon tea and entertainment to help do away with the tedium of their situations and to give them something for which to look forward to. And on August 12, 1920, she formed the “Not Forgotten” Association for the ‘comfort, cheer and entertainment’ for those wounded in war.

Her Royal Highness, Princess Mary was the charity’s first patron. She hosted the first garden party in 1921 to mark the contributions made by members of the armed forces. Anne, the Princess Royal is the current Royal Patron and has been since she took over the role from the Duchess of Kent in 2000.

The charity provides entertainment, leisure and recreational activities to serving wounded or injured and sick service members as well as to veterans with disabilities. The garden party is its largest event of the year.

The NFA posted this bulletin on its website, thanking Their Royal Highnesses for hosting and attending the event: “We were honoured that HRH The Duke of York and his daughters, TRH Princess Beatrice of York and Princess Eugenie of York joined us, chatting to so many of our guests and delighting them with their keen interest.”

The organisation also thanked Her Majesty for her continued support: “We remain indebted for the unique privilege Her Majesty The Queen affords us by continuing to allow us to hold the Garden Party at Buckingham Palace. We deliver this event on behalf of all the Armed Services, including the Merchant Navy; and some 2,000 beneficiaries, carers and supporters represented all the Services. We were also pleased to share the day with many other Service Charities whose participation reflects the special place this event holds for the Service Community.”